Furnace



May 12, 1931.

F. D. HOWE FURNACE Filed April 5, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l F. D. HOWE May 12, 1981.

FURNACE sFiled April 5, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m... f Il Ilm. DJK

A TTORNE Y.

F'. D. HOWE May 12,1931.

FURNACE Filed April 5, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENToR.

BY C f5@ ATTORNEY.

Patented May 12,

f www STATES raiser @am FRANK zo. nownor'cnvnnoea r'ALLs, omo

Appncaeon inea April 5, 192e.

Thisinvention relates to devices for burning solid fuel, more particularly bituminous or other coal. Y

yAmong theobjects of the inventionl are the securing of complete and smokeless combustion, small waste yof unburned fuel, easy access to the fire for cleaning, and visibility'of the lire, giving the eect of an open fire, with the efficiency of a closed fire. f Y c The' novel features yare the means for charging the'furnace ywith fuel at the rear, pushing the fuel forward by means of the swinging loader upon, front grate,

' back upon theA fresh fuel so that ignition 0f gases as they distill'off is assured anda bright, smokeless combustion is secured in that part doors. `Other novel features vvare the upper 'forwardly tapered grate :barsand the lower bars pivoted at their rear and diverging 'fromV the upperba'rs'forwardly ,and adapted to be lliow ainsupplyplateh the means for regulating air. rear part .of the grate,` the shaken attheir front ends, the floating, holthe` dumping hearth,` supply to: the construction of the glass doors by whichv expansion of thepparts is prevented from breaking the glass, the

baffles by which smole is deflected away from f the glass doors, the means for operating the parts andthe general arrangement and rela-- tion of the parts. y 'f Of the accompanying drawings: Figure lis a vertical section through a furnace embodying the invention in a fireplace setting;

Figure 2 is alpi-an section through the "planev 22 of Figure 1f;

Figure 3. is a fragmentary outside view showing control parts; c f f Figurel is a fragmentary plan view of grate vand control parts;

AFigure 5,is a section on the plane 5k-e5 of Figure A; e

Figure 6 .is fa' fragmentary front View of the glass doors; f y i f Y f Figure 7 'is yan enlarged section through Figurel on'the plane '.`-7--7-;y

v the forward vtilted.

and the return of the grate to thevertical position to crowd thelive coals v 'lire boxwhen the loaderis raised.

of theV furnace nearest thev glassv v away from the doors incurved as at'Avfor the same purpose. Just forward of the yloader E is a ygas deflecting vSerial No. 99,738.

Figure 8 is an elevation, partly in section, of a modied form of the invention;'and

Figure 9 is an elevation showing a partial section on the plane -,9-9- of Figure 8.

kReferring to Figures lv to 6 of the draw- 55 ings, A is the lire box, or combustion chan'iber,y in the front wall of ywhich is an opening closed byy doors,B, glazed with mica, heat resisting glass or other transparent substance, C. Ther rear wall of fireboX A opens intofa loading chamber D, in which is pivoted the loader E. A hinged cover F gives access t0 the loader. The top wall of the loader'ch-anfl-` ber should beraised above the radius ofthe c loader asat D1 to allow gas `made ofbrick. 4 A hinge plate K is built into the wallv and. carriesthe hearth plate L, which 75" is adjustable byvlever M shown in Figures 3 and 4l. a Anopening in the Wall A1 has a draftslide 0, which'controls the admission of air to the ash pit P. f

Attached to the top wall of lire lboX Af'is A2 to keep the smolre B, andthe top wall is the transverse baille and auxiliary air Afeeder plate Q'fextending '85 across the fire bon and freely pivoted onrhollow bearings Q1. A stop Q2 limits the 'downi wardy motion of plate Q. A suitable damper Q3' may be employed to regulate theflow of air from plate Q. R is the smoke flue.

The grate bar construction is shown in Figures l, l and 5. The upper set yGr is stationaryV and supported by*` cross members S and T. rllhes'e bars are tapered forwardly to be of l'esswidth at their forward ends to avoid wedging of the fuel as it is shoved forward, and-'to provide increased air openingffroin thev ashl pit at the front asshown at G1, G1' where combustion is most rapid. Their front ends are given an upward inclination as at 100 G2 to guide the forward moving fuel upon the inclined front grate. The lower set H, the bars of which are staggered with respect to those of the up r5er set Gr, is suported near the rear end on cross member IS), which is notched to receive bars G and H and to hold them in proper spaced relation, and at the front end by shaker bar U, which is notched to receive the vertical flanges of' bars H. Bar U extends through the fire box wall and the casing wall IV, and is operated in any convenient way as by lever V. The bars II preferably slope forwardly slightly to increase the air opening at H1 and facilitate clearii of ashes when shaken. The space between member S and rear wall A4 of the lire box ma be open or closed by the adjustable plate The loader E may be operated by being attached to a shaft El journaled in the side walls of loader chamber D and operated in any convenient manner. To secure easy operation, any suitable mechanism may be employed. Asshown in I `igures 3 and 4, lever E2, keyed to shaft El, has journaled at its outer end a pinion E2 and a ratchet wheel E4. On the shaft E5, to which the pinion and ratchet wheel are attached, is journaled a lever E having a pawl E7 engaging the ratchet wheel Et. The pawl E7 can be reversed so as to operate the ratchet wheel and p pinion in either direction. Rigidly attached to the side of loader chamber D is a gear sector ES with which pinion E3 engages. Oscillating lever E6 will move lever E2 in one direction or the other, depending on the position of the pawl and the loader moved accordingly.

Front grate I is operated through shaft I2, lever I2 and vhand lever It. Lever I3 car` ries a pawl I5 which engages with and is wider than ratchet plate I8, and also pin i6, which serves as a fulcrun'i for lever I, Hand lever I4 has a notch in the lower end which engagesfpin I6, and also has a pin I7, which contacts the side of levervI3 to elevate the grate and engages the lower inclined surface of pawl I5 to disengage it as lever It is moved forward. Further movement of lever It brings pin I6 into contact with lug I9 on lever I3 and rocks grate I forward.

The device, as described above, may be used as a stove, as a steam or hot water boiler, or have an outer casing on the hot air furnace principle. As shown it isa hot air furnace with a casing in the form of a fireplace, with brick side walls WV, a metal front wall W2, air inlet openings 72, near the floor, and outlets W4 near the ceiling. The rear walls of the furnace and smoke flue are shown eX- osed to radiate heat from the rear of the urnace and filler strips vW5 (Figure 2) com plete the casing at the rear. l

Referring to Figure 7, in which the door shown in detail, Y represents the outer frame, Y2 an inner frame, Y3 glass or other transparent material, and Y4 a metal channel in which the glass rests and which holds the pieces in place if the glass should be accidentally broken. These parts should be so fitted that the glass is free to adjust itself to expansion and contraction.

ln the operation of the device shown in Figures l to 6, the `fire is started next to the front grate, the latter being in the forward dotted line position, and the balance of the fuel grate filled with fuel. o As the lire becomes established, there will be a zone of bright coals in front, a coking zone with a gas fire or flame zone at the rear of the coke fire and a mass of unignited coal at the rear of the flame Zone.. When more fuel is ieeded, the loader is brought to the vertical position, fuel is put into the loader chamber and the loader pushed downward and forward, forcino` forward the fresh fuel and that on the grate bars. If a full charge of fuel is desired, front grate I is tilted forward and the fire pushed out upon it. Raising the grate forces the lire back upon the fresh fuel producing a practically smokeless ir Where a moderate fire is desired, slack coal works better than lump. Clinkers and slate worl; forward against the front grate without wedging between the grate barsand canbe pulled over onto the hearth plate L and dropped into the ash pit. Plate L may be heldopen to check the lire. The plate X, at the rear of the grate bars, is generally closed and is opened to drop ashes or to provide eXtra air for combustion. rl`he auxiliary air feeder Q floats on the fuel and guides any gases formed belowit forward toward the fire. The air emerging froml the slot assists in this and also aids combustion.

In Figures 8 and 9, the twin arrangement shown is intended to be placed in the wall between two rooms in each of Vwhich an open fire effect is desired. Parts having the same functions as in the other type are given the saine letter with the addition of an exponent m, This furnace has two loaders Em receiving fuel through doors Fir which may be duplicated in each room. Gm and Hm are the grates and IX the vertical grates operated by lever I3? are at the sides ofthe fire. There are glass doors in each room'. All controls are induplicate so that the lire may be attended to in either room. The operation is the Same as for the single furnace, except that .the two loaders are used so as to keep the active fire at the center of the furnace.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

l/Vhat is claimed is:

l.; A furnace, one wall of which is transparent, said furnace includingv a grate, said furnace having an'inl'et and means associated therewith for feeding fuel horizontally onto the grate at a point remote from the transparentwall whereby a Zone of substantially smokeless combustion is produced adjacent said wall, anda member pivoted to cooperate with the grate adjacent said transparent wall and movable between a position extending forwardly of the grate and an upright position so as tov be operable to faciliytate placement and combustion of the fuel rupon the grate by receiving coals forced thereon during loading operation and forcing the fuels received thereon back upon the fuels on the grate.

3. In a furnace having a transparent wall,

a gratemeans for feeding fuel horizontally onto the grate at a pointremote from said wall, and a smoke baiie extending downwardly from the top of the furnace in back vof said transparent wall.`

4. In a furnace, a'grate, said furnace having an inlet and-means associated therewith for feeding fuel horizontally onto one end of the grate, a hollow deflector plate pivoted at the top of the inlet and riding upon the fuel adjacent the feeding means, and means to supply air through the deflector plate over the fuel. j

5. The combination in a furnace having a wall of its combustion chamber of transparent material, said wall being of substantial extent to provide the effect of a fireplace, of a grate in the bottom of the combustion chamber, means for creating a draft from below the combustion chamberrup through the grate, said furnace having an inlet remote from said transparent wall and means associated with the inlet to force fresh fuel Y horizontally onto the grate and thereby to force the burning fuel in said furnace toward said transparent wall upon each feeding of fresh fuel into the furnace whereby a zone of substantially smokeless combustion will be established in said furnace adjacent said transparent wall.

6. The combination in a furnace having the front wall ofits combustion chamber of transparent material, said wallv being of substantial extent to provide the effectof a fireplace, of a grate in the bottom of the furnace, means creating a draft from below up through the grate, the rear wall of said grate toy push the burning fuel on the grate forwardly toward said transparent wall.

7. A furnace as claimed in claim 6,`including an 'abutment associated with the front end of the grate and spaced from said transparent wall to limit the forward movement' of the burning fuel when fresh fuel is being forced onto the grate.

8. rIhe combination in a furnace of a grate, means for forcing fuel onto the grate from one end thereof, and a movable abut-y ment member` at the other end of the grate, said member being movable between a position extending loutwardly of said end of the grate and a position substantially perpendicular to the grate whereby burning fuel forcedy outwardly onvthe extended abut'- ment member may be crowded back upon the fresh fuel. FRANK D. HOWE.

Gil

furnace having an inlet therein through which fresh fuel may be forced onto the 

